Strava - Pro's taking KOM/QOM's - Discuss...

cloggsy71

On Strava I follow a couple of Pro riders...

Is it fair or just that they be allowed to take KOM/QOM's etc. or should that only be allowed by amateurs (of which there are some extremely fit and able riders out there)?

Yes, we can all look in 'wonder' at how quickly they can ascend of descend climbs etc., but, at the end of the day that is their 'job' so to speak... I'm sure we could all do much better, go much further if we were being 'paid' to ride day in, day out...

What are your thoughts; discuss...

Frannybobs

Don't see why not - interesting as a benchmark - it's only like the difference between the likes of me and the likes of you, Cloggsy - never gonna get to your level but interesting to see the difference!

What they could do is have a category "Pro" as you can see how you rank amongst your own gender ( so I can filter to women only) and age and club etc - why not have a category for Pro / Amateur...

FatDadSlim

I couldn't care any less about Strava KOM's, its all about personal progress "Strive to improve". A Change in wind direction/speed and even traffic can make a massive difference in the ability to get a KOM anyway so it will never be an indication of ability. I would like to ride a segment that has been ridden by a PRO though, would be cool to compare times. (Just hope i would have a tailwind so it's not too embarrassing!)

Jakess1971

What they could do is have a category "Pro" as you can see how you rank amongst your own gender ( so I can filter to women only) and age and club etc - why not have a category for Pro / Amateur...

Compare with or without pro would be ideal really, award amateur KOMs, but as FDS said I'm not a fan of them myself due to being slow, I'm more about distance

cloggsy71

it's only like the difference between the likes of me and the likes of you, Cloggsy - never gonna get to your level but interesting to see the difference!

'My level' :laugh: You can't say that Fran', who's to say you won't improve with the right equipment and enough time on the bike?

One of my first 'commutes' to work here: http://www.strava.com/activities/138569786

My quickest ride of this route: http://www.strava.com/activities/143342054

The only things that have changed are time & fitness level... Everything else is the same!

allaboutthecake

Pro's aren't allowed in my neck of the woods.....:laugh: :laugh:

CentralCaliCycling

I kind of find it interesting. We have some Pros that train in our area and a local cycling monster who has most of the KOMs on the major climbs was fairly excited that Laurens ten Dam of Team Belkin just broke one of this KOMs a week or two ago although not by much. We all know the Pros are not out riding for the KOMs when training but it is kind of fun to see how we stack up when they are training in the area on roads we know.

Pretty nice segment to be second to a pro on http://www.strava.com/activities/147906234/segments/3392555765

TheBigYin

I think it's certainly interesting, though I think that adding a "pro" filter y/n option would be a good idea...

Academic for me anyway - as there's only one "Real" KoM I have at the moment (all the others have something like 2-3 people who rode the sector) - and that particular sector was a freak conditions ride - 20mph tailwinds, and I turned into it on the backwheel of a Lambretta Scooter, which I hung on the wheel of and motor-paced 2/3 of the way up the hill... that's sort of how i'm a clear 9-10 seconds in front of pretty much all the local first-cat racers who ride the mid-week chain-gang over that road.

Lukejacksmum

A Pro filter would be good.
I don't care about the QOM I only care about improving my times
I am looking forward to being 50lbs lighter than what I am now to be able to smash my own times though x

lpherman01

There's no way I can get close to KOMs where I ride, but my wife has gotten a few QOMs on the back of my tandem, especially on the long flat runs.

Archon2

I like to see the pros down through the club level people on Strava, just to know how bad I am and how much further I could go in fitness (hah). But I did think the "Mister Hematocrit" videos sponsored by Peleton Magazine were a funny take on this whole subject. Check em out if you haven't. I do suspect Mr H. is probably a pro level sprinter myself in the videos though.